Method and apparatus for collecting information from a wireless device

ABSTRACT

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate remotely monitoring and/or controlling a media device that obtains broadcast and/or multicast transmission(s). According to various aspects, systems and methods are described that facilitate remotely controlling media device(s) that operate in connection with broadcast and/or multicast transmission(s) with limited or no reverse link (e.g., employing Forward Link Only (FLO) technology, . . . ). Such systems and methods may monitor various service issues, device performance, network performance, and the like.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patentapplication Ser. No. 60/739,481 entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FORCOLLECTING INFORMATION FROM A WIRELESS DEVICE” which was filed Nov. 23,2005. The entirety of the aforementioned application is hereinincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

I. Field

The following description relates generally to wireless communications,and more particularly to remotely monitoring and/or controlling abroadcast device in a wireless communication system.

II. Background

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication; for instance, voice and/or data may be providedvia such wireless communication systems. A typical wirelesscommunication system, or network, can provide multiple users access toone or more shared resources. For instance, a system may use a varietyof multiple access techniques such as Frequency Division Multiplexing(FDM), Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), Code Division Multiplexing(CDM), and others.

Common wireless communication systems employ one or more base stationsthat provide a coverage area. A typical base station can transmitmultiple data streams for broadcast, multicast and/or unicast services,wherein a data stream may be a stream of data that can be of independentreception interest to a user device. A user device within the coveragearea of such base station can be employed to receive one, more than one,or all the data streams carried by the composite stream. Likewise, auser device can transmit data to the base station or another userdevice.

Recently, broadcast techniques such as Forward Link Only (FLO)technology have been developed and employed to provide content (e.g.,video, audio, multimedia, IP datacast, . . . ) to portable userdevice(s). FLO technology can be designed to achieve high qualityreception, both for real-time content streaming and other data services.FLO technology can provide robust mobile performance and high capacitywithout compromising power consumption. In addition, FLO technology mayreduce costs associated with delivering multimedia content by decreasingthe number of deployed base station transmitters. Furthermore, FLOtechnology based multimedia multicasting can be complimentary towireless operators' cellular network data and voice services, deliveringcontent to the same mobile devices.

FLO may employ orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) basedmulticast technology without a reverse link or with a limited reverselink. Accordingly, by employing limited or no reverse links with FLOtechniques, mobile device(s) commonly are unable to report network,coverage and/or service related issues, statistics and/or data. Further,in connection with FLO, mobile device(s) may be unable to beindividually controlled since such technology conventionally employsmulticasting.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodimentsin order to provide a basic understanding of such embodiments. Thissummary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments,and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of allembodiments nor delineate the scope of any or all embodiments. Its solepurpose is to present some concepts of one or more embodiments in asimplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that ispresented later.

In accordance with one or more embodiments and corresponding disclosurethereof, various aspects are described in connection with remotelymonitoring and/or controlling a media device that obtains broadcastand/or multicast transmission(s). According to various aspects, systemsand methods are described that facilitate remotely controlling mediadevice(s) that operate in connection with broadcast and/or multicasttransmission(s) with limited or no reverse link (e.g., employing ForwardLink Only (FLO) technology, . . . ). Such systems and methods maymonitor various service issues, device performance, network performance,and the like.

According to related aspects, a method of remotely monitoring abroadcast device is described herein. The method may comprise receivingcollected information associated with a broadcast transmission from anoperational media device and monitoring performance of at least one ofthe media device and a network based upon the collected information.Moreover, the method may include altering a subsequent broadcasttransmission based upon the monitored performance.

Another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus that mayinclude a memory that retains data related to a broadcast transmissionand control information from a remote source. Further, a processor mayenable operation pursuant to the control information for collecting thedata related to the broadcast transmission, aggregate the data, andtransmit feedback pertaining to the data.

Yet another aspect relates to a wireless communications apparatus formonitoring a remote device. The wireless communications apparatus mayinclude means for receiving collected information associated with abroadcast transmission; means for monitoring performance of at least oneof a media device and a network based on the collected information; andmeans for altering a subsequent transmission based upon the monitoredperformance.

Still another aspect relates to a machine-readable medium having storedthereon machine-executable instructions for controlling operation of amedia device that obtains a broadcast transmission, collecting dataassociated with the broadcast transmission from a plurality of nodesincluding the media device, and transmitting the collected data via abackhaul for remote monitoring.

In accordance with another aspect, a processor is described herein,wherein the processor may execute instructions for monitoringperformance of at least one of a media device and a network based uponcollected information associated with a broadcast transmission obtainedfrom the media device. Further, the processor may execute instructionsfor altering a subsequent broadcast transmission based upon themonitored performance.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreembodiments comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects ofthe one or more embodiments. These aspects are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of variousembodiments may be employed and the described embodiments are intendedto include all such aspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a wireless communication system inaccordance with various aspects set forth herein.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a wireless communication system thatmonitors and/or controls a remotely located device to yield feedbackinformation.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a system that monitors and/or controlsbroadcast and/or multicast transmissions at disparate geographiclocations.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a system that evaluates and/or modifiesquality of service associated with broadcast and/or multicasttransmission of content with limited or no reverse link communication.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an exemplary architecture of a remote probethat may be employed in connection with collecting data associated withFLO transmission(s).

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a methodology that facilitates remotelymonitoring a broadcast device.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a methodology that facilitates collectingand/or backhauling data associated with a broadcast transmission.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a methodology that facilitates assemblingdata from a plurality of nodes associated with local area operationinfrastructure(s) (LOI(s)).

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a user device that facilitates monitoringand/or providing feedback in connection with broadcast and/or multicasttransmission(s).

FIG. 10 is an illustration of a system that facilitates monitoringand/or controlling remote media device(s).

FIG. 11 is an illustration of a wireless network environment that can beemployed in conjunction with the various systems and methods describedherein.

FIG. 12 is an illustration of a communication network that comprises anembodiment of a transport system that operates to create and transportmultimedia content flows across data networks.

FIG. 13 is an illustration of a content provider server suitable for usein an embodiment of a content delivery system.

FIG. 14 is an illustration of a content server (CS) or device suitablefor use in one or more embodiments of a content delivery system.

FIG. 15 is an illustration of a system that monitors and/or controls aremote media device that obtains broadcast and/or multicasttransmission(s).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments are now described with reference to the drawings,wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elementsthroughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of one or more embodiments. It may be evident, however,that such embodiment(s) may be practiced without these specific details.In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in blockdiagram form in order to facilitate describing one or more embodiments.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “module,” “system,”and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, eitherhardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, orsoftware in execution. For example, a component may be, but is notlimited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, anobject, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or acomputer. By way of illustration, both an application running on acomputing device and the computing device can be a component. One ormore components can reside within a process and/or thread of executionand a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributedbetween two or more computers. In addition, these components can executefrom various computer readable media having various data structuresstored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/orremote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or moredata packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with anothercomponent in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a networksuch as the Internet with other systems by way of the signal).

Furthermore, various embodiments are described herein in connection witha subscriber station. A subscriber station can also be called a system,a subscriber unit, mobile station, mobile, remote station, access point,remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, a userdevice, or user equipment. A subscriber station may be a cellulartelephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a handheld device having wireless connection capability,computing device, or other processing device connected to a wirelessmodem.

Moreover, various aspects or features described herein may beimplemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture usingstandard programming and/or engineering techniques. The term “article ofmanufacture” as used herein is intended to encompass a computer programaccessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media. Forexample, computer-readable media can include but are not limited tomagnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips,etc.), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk(DVD), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., EPROM, card,stick, key drive, etc.). Additionally, various storage media describedherein can represent one or more devices and/or other machine-readablemedia for storing information. The term “machine-readable medium” caninclude, without being limited to, wireless channels and various othermedia capable of storing, containing, and/or carrying instruction(s)and/or data.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a wireless communication system 100 isillustrated in accordance with various embodiments presented herein.System 100 can comprise one or more base stations 102 (e.g., accesspoints) in one or more sectors that receive, transmit, repeat, etc.,wireless communication signals to each other and/or to one or moremobile devices 104. Each base station 102 can comprise a transmitterchain and a receiver chain, each of which can in turn comprise aplurality of components associated with signal transmission andreception (e.g., processors, modulators, multiplexers, demodulators,demultiplexers, antennas, etc.), as will be appreciated by one skilledin the art. Mobile devices 104 can be, for example, cellular phones,smart phones, laptops, handheld communication devices, handheldcomputing devices, satellite radios, global positioning systems, PDAs,and/or any other suitable device for communicating over wirelesscommunication system 100.

Base stations 102 can broadcast content to mobile devices 104 byemploying Forward Link Only (FLO) technology. For instance, real timeaudio and/or video signals may be broadcast, as well as non-real timeservices (e.g., music, weather, news summaries, traffic, financialinformation, . . . ). According to an example, content may be broadcastby base stations 102 to mobile devices 104. Mobile devices 104 mayreceive and output such content (e.g., by employing visual output(s),audio output(s), . . . ). Moreover, FLO technology may utilizeorthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). Frequency divisionbased techniques such as OFDM typically separate the frequency spectruminto distinct channels; for instance, the frequency spectrum may besplit into uniform chunks of bandwidth. OFDM effectively partitions theoverall system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal frequency channels.Additionally, an OFDM system may use time and/or frequency divisionmultiplexing to achieve orthogonality among multiple data transmissionsfor multiple base stations 102.

In conventional FLO systems, mobile devices 104 may be unable to providefeedback related to network, coverage and/or service related problems.Further, mobile devices 104 commonly may lack an ability to providestatistics and/or data to base stations 102 (and/or disparate networkcomponents such as a network operation center (not shown)) due to FLOtechniques forgoing utilization of a reverse link and/or employing alimited reverse link. To mitigate effects associated with theaforementioned lack of feedback, system 100 can utilize a remote probe(not shown) that enables monitoring and communicating such monitoreddata. Such remote probe can utilize an alternate control and/orreporting path (not shown) as compared to the communication pathemployed in connection with FLO transmission from base stations 102.Moreover, the remote probe can be remotely controlled to performspecified actions; however, the claimed subject matter is not solimited.

Information obtained by way of the remote probe may be employed toeffectuate modification(s) within system 100, identify faults, locatehotspots and/or regions lacking coverage, evaluate signal strength, varyoperation of the remote probe, etc. It is to be appreciated that theremote probe may be positioned in a fixed location and/or may be mobile.Also, the remote probe may be similar to one or more mobile devices 104;thus, by way of illustration, one or more mobile devices 104 may be acellular telephone, laptop computer, etc. and the remote probe may be asimilar cellular telephone, laptop computer, etc.; however, the subjectclaims are not limited to the aforementioned example.

Turning to FIG. 2, illustrated is a wireless communication system 200that monitors and/or controls a remotely located device to yieldfeedback information. System 200 depicts an example of an architecturethat may be employed in connection with backhauling content and/orinformation associated with such content transmitted by way ofbroadcasts and/or multicasts lacking corresponding reverse linkcommunication paths. One skilled in the art would recognize that theclaimed subject matter is not limited to the example provided in system200.

System 200 may include a content provider (CP) 202 that provides anytype of content to a head end 204. For instance, CP 202 may provide realtime and/or non-real time data. Any number of content providers similarto CP 202 and/or any number of head ends similar to head end 204 may beutilized in connection with system 200. Additionally, CP 202 maycommunicate audio, video, IP datacast, or any disparate type of contentto head end 204. Content from any number of sources may be obtained athead end(s) 204 and/or a real time server (RTS) 206. Thereafter, thecontent may be transferred from RTS 206 to a multiplexer (MUX) 208.Content from disparate sources may be multiplexed by MUX 208. Themultiplexed data may be transmitted to a satellite 210 (e.g., via the Kuband, . . . ) and thereafter communicated to various local areaoperation infrastructures (LOIs). A LOI may include an integrated ratedecoder (IRD) 212 that obtains the downlink signal from satellite 210and provides the data to an exciter 214. Exciter 214 may convert thedata into radio frequency to enable transmission by a base station 216to any number of mobile devices 218. Base station 216 may utilize FLOtechnology to broadcast and/or multicast content to one or more mobiledevices 218; thus, little or no reverse link transmission from mobiledevices 218 to base station 216 may occur. Mobile devices 218 may bemobile and/or located at fixed positions. Further, mobile devices 218may be utilized intermittently and/or may be associated with limited orno usage diversity. Mobile devices 218 may obtain content from basestation 216 and output (e.g., playback, . . . ) such content (e.g., withdisplay(s), speaker(s), . . . ).

A remote agent 220 may monitor node(s) associated with the LOI. Forinstance, remote agent 220 may monitor IRD 212 and/or exciter 214 and/orcollect data associated therewith. Additionally or alternatively, aremote probe 222 may receive transmission(s) provided by base station216 and remote agent 220 may monitor and/or control remote probe 222.For example, remote probe 222 may be similar to mobile devices 218;thus, interactions with system 200 of remote probe 222 may be similar tothose of mobile devices 218. According to an illustration, remote probe222 may obtain audio and/or video content transmitted over a channel bybase station 216. The content may be provided to remote agent 220, whichmay thereafter backhaul the content to a network operation center (NOC)224 by way of a wireless area network (WAN) 226. Remote agent 220 mayutilize any communication path to transmit and/or obtain data from NOC224. It is to be appreciated that any type of connectivity (e.g., wired,wireless, combination thereof, . . . ) may be employed. According to anexample, any 2G, 3G, 4G, etc. protocol may be utilized. For instance, a1× reverse link may be employed to report limited bandwidth data.Pursuant to a further illustration, a dedicated wired broadband link maybe utilized to transport high bandwidth data such as audio and/or videoservice data.

NOC 224 may monitor data from various locations within system 200. Forinstance, NOC 224 may obtain data yielded by CP 202, RTS 206 and/or MUX208. Further, NOC 224 may obtain monitored information from remote agent220. Thus, NOC 224 may monitor any communication path within system 200,and hence, may identify any problematic link(s) within system 200. Incontrast, conventional techniques employing FLO with limited or noreverse link typically fail to allow for monitoring communicationsoccurring at LOIs due to a lack of feedback. Accordingly, such commonsystems may be able to evaluate outputs from CP 202, RTS 206 and/or MUX208, yet may fail to provide feedback and/or enable control after thedownlink transmission from satellite 210.

With reference to FIG. 3, illustrated is a system 300 that monitorsand/or controls broadcast and/or multicast transmissions at disparategeographic locations. System 300 may include a network operation center(NOC) 302 and any number of remote agents 304. It is to be appreciatedthat remote agents 304 may be located at any geographic positions andmay be employed to monitor and/or control conditions associated withsuch locales. By way of illustration, one of the remote agents 304 maybe associated with a base station employing FLO transmissions inCalifornia and a disparate one of the remote agents 304 may be relatedto a similar base station in Florida; however, the claimed subjectmatter is not limited to the aforementioned example.

NOC 302 may obtain information from one or more remote agents 304. Forinstance, NOC 302 may utilize such information for diagnostics, networkplanning, and the like. Moreover, by obtaining broadcast and/ormulticast content (e.g., audio, video, IP datacast, . . . ) from variouslocations, NOC 302 may enable simultaneous review at a centralizedlocation of the content. Accordingly, differences in quality of servicecorresponding to disparate locations can be evaluated, for instance. Itis contemplated that NOC 302 and/or remote agents 304 (and/or disparatedata store(s)) may store data associated with FLO transmission. By wayof example, audio and/or video packets may be obtained (e.g., utilizingremote probe(s), received by remote agents 304 from any disparate node,. . . ) and thereafter retained for analysis. Further, NOC 302 mayeffectuate modifications based upon an evaluation of the data obtainedfrom the remote agents 304. For example, NOC 302 may provide a signal toone of the remote agents 304 causing an associated remote probe to varya receiving channel, data to be backhauled, and the like. Additionallyor alternatively, although not depicted, it is contemplated that NOC 302may communicate with disparate network nodes to alter modulated contentoutputted by a multiplexer (e.g., MUX 208 of FIG. 2, . . . ). Further,by interacting with disparate nodes, NOC 302 may correlate data from thevarious nodes to identify fault(s), for instance.

Significant amounts of information may be collected from operationalmedia device(s) (e.g., remote probe(s)) by way of remote agents 304.This information may be useful for end-to-end service monitoring, deviceperformance characterization, tuning network performance, etc. The broadvariety of information that may be collected includes service data,system information, device's physical layer performance data, and thelike. The following describes information that may be collected.

Service related information may be collected for monitoring purposes.Audio and/or video channels may be monitored. For example, the remoteprobe may be instructed by NOC 302 and/or remote agent 304 to tune to aspecific media program, collect audio and/or video data along withtiming information and send the data to a diagnostic interface (e.g.,remote agent 304). The data may be collected at this interface andtransported to NOC 302 for playback.

Pursuant to another illustration, IP datacast data may be monitored byNOC 302. The remote probe may be utilized to collect data arriving on IPdatacast flow(s). The collected data can provide significant insightinto the quality of the IP datacast service. For instance, an evaluationof the collected data may indicate an extent of data loss, an extent ofdelay due to MUX scheduling algorithms, etc.

The remote probe may be programmed to monitor other relevant system wideinformation to derive various statistics and understand system behavior,for instance. By way of illustration, disparate information that may bemonitored and provided to NOC 302 may be related to a Media ProgramGuide, notification data, etc. Additionally or alternatively,application level events may be monitored such as updates to keys,changes to transmit modes, faults occurring on the remote probe, and thelike.

Network related information may be collected with remote probe(s) and/orremote agent(s) 304 and provided to NOC 302. The network relatedinformation may be particularly useful when remote probe(s) are mobile.The network related information may include, for example, Local and Widearea Control Channel Information (e.g., RF Channel Description, NeighborList, . . . ), serving wide area operation infrastructure (WOI) and/orlocal area operation infrastructure (LOI), wide-area differentiator(WID) and/or local-area differentiator (LID) seen by the remote probe,number of flows in a local/wide area, transmitter(s) visible to theremote probe, current transmitter serving the device, etc.

Physical layer performance data may additionally or alternatively bemonitored. The remote probe may collect FLO Test Application Protocol(FTAP) specified physical layer performance data. The remote probe maydecode specified FTA service flows scheduled over the FLO multiplex,collect statistics and report back to a FTAP server for analyzing thedata decoded by the remote probe against the data originated in thenetwork.

Any type of physical layer performance data may be collected. Forexample, overhead information symbols (OIS) performance data such aserasure information on Wide/Local OIS and/or number of flows scheduledin a superframe may be obtained. Wide-area identification channel(WIC)/local-area identification channel (LIC) performance such asWID/LID seen by the remote probe may be collected. Data MediaFLO logicalchannel (MLC) performance may additionally or alternatively be assembledfor FTA flows under various transmit modes (e.g., cyclic redundancycheck (CRC) characteristics of received data, performance of ReedSolomon (R/S) code, . . . ). Further, for enhancement flows, CRCcharacteristics of received data and/or performance of R/S code may becollected independently for base and enhancement layers. According toanother example, coverage information may also be collected. Undermobile conditions, the remote probe may record measurements at disparatelocations related to location information, received signal strengthindicator (RSSI), packet error rate (PER) on OIS, control channel and/orany service flow, etc. Moreover, such recorded coverage data may beutilized (e.g., by NOC 302, one or more remote agents 304, . . . ) togenerate coverage maps and/or characterize device performance under edgeof coverage conditions as well as in areas with overlapping coveragefrom multiple transmitters.

According to another illustration, video quality parameters may beanalyzed. For instance, a media player (e.g., associated with the remoteprobe) may provide video quality measurement parameters. Theseparameters may be reported by the device to yield an objective measureof the audio/video quality.

Referring to FIG. 4, illustrated is a system 400 that evaluates and/ormodifies quality of service associated with broadcast and/or multicasttransmission of content with limited or no reverse link communication.System 400 includes a remote agent 402 and any number of nodes 404 thatmay be monitored and/or controlled. For instance, nodes 404 may be oneor more of a remote probe, an IRD, an exciter, a terminal server, andthe like. Additionally or alternatively, nodes 404 may be associatedwith a LOI. Remote agent 402 may effectuate collecting packet errors,RSSI, service data (e.g., audio/video data, FTAP, . . . ), video qualityparameters, and so on from one or more of nodes 404. Remote agent 402and nodes 404 may communicate via any type of wired, wireless,combination thereof, etc. connection. Moreover, remote agent 402 maymonitor an air interface (e.g., error rate, signal strength, coverage, .. . ), application/service layer (e.g., user experience, . . . ), etc.Further, although not depicted, remote agent 402 may communicate withone or more network operation centers (NOCs) by way of, for example, a1× reverse link for reporting limited bandwidth data, a dedicated wiredbroadband link for transporting high bandwidth data, and so forth.Remote agent 402 and/or NOCs may perform correlations between the airinterface and media application layers; thus, device level faults may beidentified, thresholds may be correlated with network events, and thelike.

Turning to FIG. 5, illustrated is an exemplary architecture of a remoteprobe 502 that may be employed in connection with collecting dataassociated with FLO transmission(s). Remote probe 502 may include a FLOchip 504 and a non-FLO chip 506. An application may run upon FLO chip504 that receives content transmitted via broadcast and/or multicast.The content may be provided from a data stack 508 (which may include anynumber of disparate layers) associated with FLO chip 504 to a relayagent 510. For instance, flow data and/or diagnostic information may beprovided to relay agent 510. Non-FLO chip 506 may be employed toplayback the received content. For instance, content may be provided toa data stack 512 and/or a Qtv player/decoder 514 to generate an output(e.g., utilizing display(s), speaker(s), . . . ).

Relay agent 510 may transfer flow data, diagnostics, and the like over abackhaul to disparate component(s) (not shown) such as, for instance, aremote agent, a network operation center, etc. Further, relay agent 510may perform bi-directional communication with such disparatecomponent(s). Thus, a disparate component may provide a control signalto relay agent 510 (e.g., to alter a channel for receiving content,indicating data to return via the backhaul, . . . ); thus, relay agent510 may transmit control information to data stack 508 and/or FLO chip504 to effectuate such change; however, the claimed subject matter isnot so limited.

Referring to FIGS. 6-8, methodologies relating to remotely monitoringand/or controlling mobile device(s) obtaining broadcast and/or multicasttransmission(s) are illustrated. For example, methodologies can relateto monitoring and/or controlling such devices in an FDMA environment, anOFDMA environment, a CDMA environment, a WCDMA environment, a TDMAenvironment, an SDMA environment, or any other suitable wirelessenvironment. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, themethodologies are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to beunderstood and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by theorder of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or moreembodiments, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with otheracts from that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled inthe art will understand and appreciate that a methodology couldalternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states orevents, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated actsmay be required to implement a methodology in accordance with one ormore embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 6, illustrated is a methodology 600 thatfacilitates remotely monitoring a broadcast device. At 602, collectedinformation associated with a broadcast transmission may be receivedfrom an operational media device. For instance, any type of collectedinformation may be obtained such as service data, system information,physical layer performance data, network information, device performanceinformation, and so forth. Additionally or alternatively, diagnosticinformation, call processing information, and/or device positioninformation may be received. Further, the broadcast transmission may beassociated with a lack of or limited reverse link. According to anexample, although not depicted, it is to be appreciated that controlinformation may be transmitted to the operational media device to varydata to collect and/or alter any disparate operating parameterpertaining to the device. Moreover, collected information may bereceived from a plurality of disparate operational media devices.

At 604, performance of at least one of the media device and a networkmay be monitored based upon the collected information. Thus, thecollected information may be utilized for end-to-end service monitoring,device performance characterization, turning network performance, etc.By way of illustration, video and/or audio packets obtained by theoperational media device may be analyzed to monitor performance of thedevice and/or the network. At 606, a subsequent broadcast transmissionmay be altered based upon the monitored performance. For instance, ifmonitoring leads to identifying that a particular communication link isnot operating properly, such link may be modified to facilitateimproving subsequent broadcast transmissions. Additionally oralternatively, the operational media device may be remotely controlledto modify operating parameters for subsequent broadcast transmission(s);thus, a channel may be varied, data to be collected can be modified,etc.

With reference to FIG. 7, illustrated is a methodology 700 thatfacilitates collecting and/or backhauling data associated with abroadcast transmission. At 702, a broadcast transmission may be receivedin accordance with obtained control information. The control informationmay indicate, for instance, a channel, a time, a location, etc. relatedto operation. At 704, data related to the broadcast transmission may becollected. Pursuant to an example, the data may be collected accordingto the control information; thus, the control information may specifytypes of data (e.g., audio and/or video packets, signal strength,network information, . . . ) to retain. By way of illustration, thecollected data may be stored, transmitted upon receipt, etc. At 706, thecollected data may be transmitted over a backhaul. According to anexample, the data may be backhauled to a network operation center, aremote agent, etc. Moreover, the backhaul may utilize any communicationpath such as, for instance, a 1× reverse link, a dedicated wiredbroadband link, and the like.

Turning to FIG. 8, illustrated is a methodology 800 that facilitatesassembling data from a plurality of nodes associated with local areaoperation infrastructure(s) (LOI(s)). At 802, operation of a mediadevice may be controlled. For instance, control information may betransmitted to the media device. At 804, data associated with abroadcast transmission may be collected from a plurality of nodesincluding the media device. By way of example, one or more of the nodesmay be an IRD, an exciter, a terminal server, etc.; however, the claimedsubject matter is not so limited. Any data may be collected such as, forinstance, information pertaining to faults, diagnostics, statistics,received packets, and so forth. At 806, the collected data may betransmitted via a backhaul. By collecting data from any number of nodesassociated with LOI(s), methodology 800 enables providing feedback fromnodes associated with the LOI(s) whereas conventional broadcasttechniques employing limited or no reverse link oftentimes fail to allowfor such feedback.

It will be appreciated that, in accordance with one or more aspectsdescribed herein, inferences can be made regarding controlling a remotemedia device, monitoring such a device, etc. As used herein, the term to“infer” or “inference” refers generally to the process of reasoningabout or inferring states of the system, environment, and/or user from aset of observations as captured via events and/or data. Inference can beemployed to identify a specific context or action, or can generate aprobability distribution over states, for example. The inference can beprobabilistic—that is, the computation of a probability distributionover states of interest based on a consideration of data and events.Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composinghigher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Such inferenceresults in the construction of new events or actions from a set ofobserved events and/or stored event data, whether or not the events arecorrelated in close temporal proximity, and whether the events and datacome from one or several event and data sources.

According to an example, one or more methods presented above can includemaking inferences regarding identifying data associated with a broadcasttransmission with limited or no reverse link to collect (e.g., subset ofavailable data to assemble, . . . ). By way of further illustration, aninference may be made pertaining to link(s) within a communicationssystem yielding faults, degraded service, etc. It will be appreciatedthat the foregoing examples are illustrative in nature and are notintended to limit the number of inferences that can be made or themanner in which such inferences are made in conjunction with the variousembodiments and/or methods described herein.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a user device 900 (e.g., remote probe, . .. ) that facilitates monitoring and/or providing feedback in connectionwith broadcast and/or multicast transmission(s). User device 900comprises a receiver 902 that receives a signal from, for instance, areceive antenna (not shown), and performs typical actions thereon (e.g.,filters, amplifies, downconverts, etc.) the received signal anddigitizes the conditioned signal to obtain samples. Receiver 902 can be,for example, an MMSE receiver, and can comprise a demodulator 904 thatcan demodulate received symbols and provide them to a processor 906 forchannel estimation. Processor 906 can be a processor dedicated toanalyzing information received by receiver 902 and/or generatinginformation for transmission by a transmitter 916, a processor thatcontrols one or more components of user device 900, and/or a processorthat both analyzes information received by receiver 902, generatesinformation for transmission by transmitter 916, and controls one ormore components of user device 900.

User device 900 can additionally comprise memory 908 that is operativelycoupled to processor 906 and that may store data to be transmitted,received data, information related to available channels, dataassociated with analyzed signal and/or interference strength,information related to an assigned channel, power, rate, or the like,and any other suitable information for estimating a channel andcommunicating via the channel. Memory 908 can additionally storeprotocols and/or algorithms associated with estimating and/or utilizinga channel (e.g., performance based, capacity based, etc.).

It will be appreciated that the data store (e.g., memory 908) describedherein can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or caninclude both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way of illustration,and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include read only memory(ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memorycan include random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cachememory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available inmany forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhancedSDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).The memory 908 of the subject systems and methods is intended tocomprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable typesof memory.

Receiver 902 is further operatively coupled to an interaction modifier910 that alters operation of user device 900 in response to receivedcontrol information. For instance, receiver 902 may obtain controlinformation from a remote source (not shown) and provide the controlinformation to interaction modifier 910. In response to the controlinformation, interaction modifier 910 may alter any operating parameterassociated with user device 900. By way of illustration and notlimitation, interaction modifier 910 may obtain control information thatmay facilitate changing type(s) of information to collect, type(s) ofinformation to backhaul, location, on/off state, base station(s) fromwhich to obtain broadcast and/or multicast transmission(s), etc.

Additionally, a broadcast data assimilator 912 may evaluate broadcastand/or multicast data obtained via receiver 902. Broadcast dataassimilator 912 may employ operating parameters specified by interactionmodifier 910. Further, broadcast data assimilator 912 may aggregate dataassociated with the broadcast and/or multicast transmission(s). Theaggregated data may thereafter be transmitted to a remote location forfurther evaluation. User device 900 still further comprises a modulator914 and a transmitter 916 that transmits the signal to, for instance, abase station, another user device, a NOC, a remote agent, etc. Althoughdepicted as being separate from the processor 906, it is to beappreciated that interaction modifier 910, broadcast data assimilator912 and/or modulator 914 may be part of processor 906 or a number ofprocessors (not shown).

FIG. 10 is an illustration of a system 1000 that facilitates monitoringand/or controlling remote media device(s). System 1000 comprises anaccess point 1002 (e.g., base station, NOC, . . . ) with a receiver 1010that receives signal(s) from one or more user devices 1004 through aplurality of receive antennas 1006, and a transmitter 1022 thattransmits to the one or more user devices 1004 through a transmitantenna 1008. Receiver 1010 can receive information from receiveantennas 1006 and is operatively associated with a demodulator 1012 thatdemodulates received information. Demodulated symbols are analyzed by aprocessor 1014 that can be similar to the processor described above withregard to FIG. 9, and which is coupled to a memory 1016 that storesinformation related to estimating a signal (e.g., pilot) strength and/orinterference strength, data to be transmitted to or received from userdevice(s) 1004 (or a disparate access point (not shown)), and/or anyother suitable information related to performing the various actions andfunctions set forth herein. Processor 1014 is further coupled to aremote device monitor 1018 that evaluates obtained data collected by aremotely positioned broadcast media device. It is to be appreciated thatthe broadcast media device may conventionally be associated with a lackof or limited reverse link; thus, such broadcast media device typicallyfails to provide feedback. Remote device monitor 1018 may evaluate thebroadcast media device at a service level, physical layer, etc., forinstance. Further, remote device monitor 1018 may enable playing backvideo and/or audio data obtained with the broadcast media device ataccess point 1002.

Remote device monitor 1018 may further coupled to a remote deviceoperation controller 1020 that can enable modifying operating parametersrelated to a remotely located broadcast media device. For example, basedupon a measured condition (e.g., fault, degraded signal strength, . . .) identified with remote device monitor 1018, remote device operationcontroller 1020 may generate control information. Such controlinformation may be provided by remote device operation controller 1020to a modulator 1022. Modulator 1022 can multiplex the controlinformation for transmission by a transmitter 1026 through antenna 1008to the broadcast media device (e.g., user device 1004). Althoughdepicted as being separate from the processor 1014, it is to beappreciated that remote device monitor 1018, remote device operationcontroller 1020 and/or modulator 1022 may be part of processor 1014 or anumber of processors (not shown).

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary wireless communication system 1100. Thewireless communication system 1100 depicts one access point and oneterminal for sake of brevity. However, it is to be appreciated that thesystem can include more than one access point and/or more than oneterminal, wherein additional access points and/or terminals can besubstantially similar or different for the exemplary access point andterminal described below. In addition, it is to be appreciated that theaccess point and/or the terminal can employ the systems (FIGS. 1-5 and9-10) and/or methods (FIGS. 6-8) described herein to facilitate wirelesscommunication there between.

Referring now to FIG. 11, on a downlink, at access point 1105, atransmit (TX) data processor 1110 receives, formats, codes, interleaves,and modulates (or symbol maps) traffic data and provides modulationsymbols (“data symbols”). A symbol modulator 1115 receives and processesthe data symbols and pilot symbols and provides a stream of symbols. Asymbol modulator 1115 multiplexes data and pilot symbols and providesthem to a transmitter unit (TMTR) 1120. Each transmit symbol may be adata symbol, a pilot symbol, or a signal value of zero. The pilotsymbols may be sent continuously in each symbol period. The pilotsymbols can be frequency division multiplexed (FDM), orthogonalfrequency division multiplexed (OFDM), time division multiplexed (TDM),frequency division multiplexed (FDM), or code division multiplexed(CDM).

TMTR 1120 receives and converts the stream of symbols into one or moreanalog signals and further conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters, andfrequency upconverts) the analog signals to generate a downlink signalsuitable for transmission over the wireless channel. The downlink signalis then transmitted through an antenna 1125 to the terminals. Atterminal 1130, an antenna 1135 receives the downlink signal and providesa received signal to a receiver unit (RCVR) 1140. Receiver unit 1140conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, and frequency downconverts) thereceived signal and digitizes the conditioned signal to obtain samples.A symbol demodulator 1145 demodulates and provides received pilotsymbols to a processor 1150 for channel estimation. Symbol demodulator1145 further receives a frequency response estimate for the downlinkfrom processor 1150, performs data demodulation on the received datasymbols to obtain data symbol estimates (which are estimates of thetransmitted data symbols), and provides the data symbol estimates to anRX data processor 1155, which demodulates (i.e., symbol demaps),deinterleaves, and decodes the data symbol estimates to recover thetransmitted traffic data. The processing by symbol demodulator 1145 andRX data processor 1155 is complementary to the processing by symbolmodulator 1115 and TX data processor 1110, respectively, at access point1105.

On the uplink, a TX data processor 1160 processes traffic data andprovides data symbols. A symbol modulator 1165 receives and multiplexesthe data symbols with pilot symbols, performs modulation, and provides astream of symbols. A transmitter unit 1170 then receives and processesthe stream of symbols to generate an uplink signal, which is transmittedby the antenna 1135 to the access point 1105.

At access point 1105, the uplink signal from terminal 1130 is receivedby the antenna 1125 and processed by a receiver unit 1175 to obtainsamples. A symbol demodulator 1180 then processes the samples andprovides received pilot symbols and data symbol estimates for theuplink. An RX data processor 1185 processes the data symbol estimates torecover the traffic data transmitted by terminal 1130. A processor 1190performs channel estimation for each active terminal transmitting on theuplink. Multiple terminals may transmit pilot concurrently on the uplinkon their respective assigned sets of pilot subbands, where the pilotsubband sets may be interlaced.

Processors 1190 and 1150 direct (e.g., control, coordinate, manage,etc.) operation at access point 1105 and terminal 1130, respectively.Respective processors 1190 and 1150 can be associated with memory units(not shown) that store program codes and data. Processors 1190 and 1150can also perform computations to derive frequency and impulse responseestimates for the uplink and downlink, respectively.

For a multiple-access system (e.g., FDMA, OFDMA, CDMA, TDMA, etc.),multiple terminals can transmit concurrently on the uplink. For such asystem, the pilot subbands may be shared among different terminals. Thechannel estimation techniques may be used in cases where the pilotsubbands for each terminal span the entire operating band (possiblyexcept for the band edges). Such a pilot subband structure would bedesirable to obtain frequency diversity for each terminal. Thetechniques described herein may be implemented by various means. Forexample, these techniques may be implemented in hardware, software, or acombination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing unitsused for channel estimation may be implemented within one or moreapplication specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signalprocessors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs),programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors,other electronic units designed to perform the functions describedherein, or a combination thereof. With software, implementation can bethrough modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that performthe functions described herein. The software codes may be stored inmemory unit and executed by the processors 1190 and 1150.

FIG. 12 shows an embodiment of a communication network 1200 thatcomprises an embodiment of a transport system that operates to createand transport multimedia content flows across data networks. Forexample, the transport system is suitable for use in transportingcontent clips from a content provider network to a wireless accessnetwork for broadcast distribution.

Network 1200 comprises a content provider (CP) 1202, a content providernetwork 1204, an optimized broadcast network 1206, and a wireless accessnetwork 1208. Network 1200 also includes devices 1210 that comprise amobile telephone 1212, a personal digital assistance (PDA) 1214, and anotebook computer 1216. Devices 1210 illustrate just some of the devicesthat are suitable for use in one or more embodiments of the transportsystem. It should be noted that although three devices are shown in FIG.12, virtually any number of devices, or types of devices are suitablefor use in the transport system.

Content provider 1202 operates to provide content for distribution tousers in network 1200. The content comprises video, audio, multimediacontent, clips, real-time and non real-time content, scripts, programs,data or any other type of suitable content. Content provider 1202provides the content to content provider network 1204 for distribution.For example, content provider 1202 communicates with content providernetwork 1204 via a communication link 1218, which comprises any suitabletype of wired and/or wireless communication link.

Content provider network 1204 comprises any combination of wired andwireless networks that operate to distribute content for delivery tousers. Content provider network 1204 communicates with optimizedbroadcast network 1206 via a link 1220. Link 1220 comprises any suitabletype of wired and/or wireless communication link. Optimized broadcastnetwork 1206 comprises any combination of wired and wireless networksthat are designed to broadcast high quality content. For example,optimized broadcast network 1206 may be a specialized proprietarynetwork that has been optimized to deliver high quality content toselected devices over a plurality of optimized communication channels.

In one or more embodiments, the transport system operates to delivercontent from content provider 1202 for distribution to a content server(CS) 1222 at content provider network 1204 that operates to communicatewith a broadcast base station (BBS) 1224 at wireless access network1208. CS 1222 and BBS 1224 communicate using one or more embodiments ofa transport interface 1226 that allows content provider network 1204 todeliver content in the form of content flows to wireless access network1208 for broadcast/multicast to devices 1210. Transport interface 1226comprises a control interface 1228 and a bearer channel 1230. Controlinterface 1228 operates to allow CS 122 to add, change, cancel, orotherwise modify contents flows that flow from content provider network1204 to wireless access network 1208. Bearer channel 1230 operates totransport the content flows from content provider network 1204 towireless access network 1208.

In one or more embodiments, CS 1222 uses transport interface 1226 toschedule a content flow to be transmitted to BBS 1224 forbroadcast/multicast over wireless access network 1208. For example, thecontent flow may comprise a non real-time content clip that was providedby content provider 1202 for distribution using content provider network1204. In an embodiment, CS 1222 operates to negotiate with BBS 1224 todetermine one or more parameters associated with the content clip. OnceBBS 1224 receives the content clip, it broadcasts/multicasts the contentclip over wireless access network 1208 for reception by one or moredevices 1210. Any of devices 1210 may be authorized to receive thecontent clip and cache it for later viewing by the device user.

For example, device 1210 comprises a client program 1232 that operatesto provide a program guide that displays a listing of content that isscheduled for broadcast over wireless access network 1208. The deviceuser may then select to receive any particular content for rendering inreal-time or to be stored in a cache 1234 for later viewing. For examplethe content clip may be scheduled for broadcast during the eveninghours, and device 1212 operates to receive the broadcast and cache thecontent clip in cache 1234 so that the device user may view the clip thenext day. Typically, the content is broadcast as part of a subscriptionservice and the receiving device may need to provide a key or otherwiseauthenticate itself to receive the broadcast.

In one or more embodiments, the transport system allows CS 1222 toreceive program-guide records, program contents, and other relatedinformation from content provider 1202. CS 1222 updates and/or createscontent for delivery to devices 1210.

FIG. 13 shows an embodiment of a content provider server 1300 suitablefor use in an embodiment of the content delivery system. For example,server 1300 may be used as the server 1202 in FIG. 12. Server 1300comprises processing logic 1302, resources and interfaces 1304, andtransceiver logic 1310, all coupled to an internal data bus 1312. Server1300 also comprises activation logic 1314, program guide (PG) 1306, andPG records logic 1308, which are also coupled to data bus 1312.

In one or more embodiments, processing logic 1302 comprises a CPU,processor, gate array, hardware logic, memory elements, virtual machine,software, and/or any combination of hardware and software. Thus,processing logic 1302 generally comprises logic to executemachine-readable instructions and to control one or more otherfunctional elements of server 1300 via internal data bus 1312.

The resources and interfaces 1304 comprise hardware and/or software thatallow server 1300 to communicate with internal and external systems. Forexample, the internal systems may include mass storage systems, memory,display driver, modem, or other internal device resources. The externalsystems may include user interface devices, printers, disk drives, orother local devices or systems.

Transceiver logic 1310 comprises hardware logic and/or software thatoperates to allow server 1300 to transmit and receive data and/or otherinformation with remote devices or systems using communication channel1316. For example, in an embodiment, communication channel 1316comprises any suitable type of communication link to allow server 1300to communicate with a data network.

Activation logic 1314 comprises a CPU, processor, gate array, hardwarelogic, memory elements, virtual machine, software, and/or anycombination of hardware and software. Activation logic 1314 operates toactivate a CS and/or a device to allow the CS and/or the device toselect and receive content and/or services described in PG 1306. In oneor more embodiments, activation logic 1314 transmits a client program1320 to the CS and/or the device during the activation process. Clientprogram 1320 runs on the CS and/or the device to receive PG 1306 anddisplay information about available content or services to the deviceuser. Thus, activation logic 1314 operates to authenticate a CS and/or adevice, download client 1320, and download PG 1306 for rendering on thedevice by client 1320.

PG 1306 comprises information in any suitable format that describescontent and/or services that are available for devices to receive. Forexample, PG 1306 may be stored in a local memory of server 1300 and maycomprise information such as content or service identifiers, schedulinginformation, pricing, and/or any other type of relevant information. Inan embodiment, PG 1306 comprises one or more identifiable sections thatare updated by processing logic 1302 as changes are made to theavailable content or services.

PG record 1308 comprises hardware and/or software that operates togenerate notification messages that identify and/or describe changes toPG 1306. For example, when processing logic 1302 updates PG 1306, PGrecords logic 1308 is notified about the changes. PG records logic 1308then generates one or more notification messages that are transmitted toCSs, which may have been activated with server 1300, so that these CSsare promptly notified about the changes to PG 1306.

In an embodiment, as part of the content delivery notification message,a broadcast indicator is provided that indicates when a section of PG1306 identified in the message will be broadcast. For example, in oneembodiment, the broadcast indicator comprises one bit to indicate thatthe section will be broadcast and a time indicator that indicates whenthe broadcast will occur. Thus, the CSs and/or the devices wishing toupdate their local copy of the PG records can listen for the broadcastat the designated time to receive the updated section of the PG records.

In an embodiment, the content delivery notification system comprisesprogram instructions stored on a computer-readable media, which whenexecuted by a processor, for instance, processing logic 1302, providesthe functions of server 1300 described herein. For example, the programinstructions may be loaded into server 1300 from a computer-readablemedia, such as a floppy disk, CDROM, memory card, FLASH memory device,RAM, ROM, or any other type of memory device or computer-readable mediathat interfaces to server 1300 through resources 1304. In anotherembodiment, the instructions may be downloaded into server 1300 from anexternal device or network resource that interfaces to server 1300through transceiver logic 1310. The program instructions, when executedby processing logic 1302, provide one or more embodiments of a guidestate notification system as described herein.

FIG. 14 shows an embodiment of a content server (CS) or device 1400suitable for use in one or more embodiments of a content deliverysystem. For example, CS 1400 may be CS 1222 or device 1210 shown in FIG.12. CS 1400 comprises processing logic 1402, resources and interfaces1404, and transceiver logic 1406, all coupled to a data bus 1408. CS1400 also comprises a client 1410, a program logic 1414 and a PG logic1412, which are also coupled to data bus 1408.

In one or more embodiments, processing logic 1402 comprises a CPU,processor, gate array, hardware logic, memory elements, virtual machine,software, and/or any combination of hardware and software. Thus,processing logic 1402 generally comprises logic configured to executemachine-readable instructions and to control one or more otherfunctional elements of CS 1400 via internal data bus 1408.

The resources and interfaces 1404 comprise hardware and/or software thatallow CS 1400 to communicate with internal and external systems. Forexample, internal systems may include mass storage systems, memory,display driver, modem, or other internal device resources. The externalsystems may include user interface devices, printers, disk drives, orother local devices or systems.

Transceiver logic 1406 comprises hardware and/or software that operateto allow CS 1400 to transmit and receive data and/or other informationwith external devices or systems through communication channel 1414. Forexample, communication channel 1414 may comprise a network communicationlink, a wireless communication link, or any other type of communicationlink.

During operation, CS and/or device 1400 is activated so that it mayreceive available content or services over a data network. For example,in one or more embodiments, CS and/or device 1400 identifies itself to acontent provider server during an activation process. As part of theactivation process, CS and/or device 1400 receives and stores PG recordsby PG logic 1412. PG 1412 contains information that identifies contentor services available for CS 1400 to receive. Client 1410 operates torender information in PG logic 1412 on CS and/or device 1400 using theresources and interfaces 1404. For example, client 1410 rendersinformation in PG logic 1412 on a display screen that is part of thedevice. Client 1410 also receives user input through the resources andinterfaces so that a device user may select content or services.

In an embodiment, CS 1400 receives notification messages throughtransceiver logic 1406. For example, the messages may be broadcast orunicast to CS 1400 and received by transceiver logic 1406. The PGnotification messages identify updates to the PG records at PG logic1412. In an embodiment, client 1410 processes the PG notificationmessages to determine whether the local copy at PG logic 1412 needs tobe updated. For example, in one or more embodiments, the notificationmessages include a section identifier, start time, end time, and versionnumber. CS 1400 operates to compare the information in the PGnotification messages to locally stored information at the existing PGlogic 1412. If CS 1400 determines from the PG notification messages thatone or more sections of the local copy at PG logic 1412 needs to beupdated, CS 1400 operates to receive the updated sections of the PG inone of several ways. For example, the updated sections of the PG may bebroadcasted at a time indicated in the PG notification messages, so thattransceiver logic 1406 may receive the broadcasts and pass the updatedsections to CS 1400, which in turn updates the local copy at PG logic1412.

In other embodiments, CS 1400 determines which sections of the PG needto be updated based on the received PG update notification messages, andtransmits a request to a CP server to obtain the desired updatedsections of the PG. For example, the request may be formatted using anysuitable format and comprise information such as a requesting CSidentifier, section identifier, version number, and/or any othersuitable information.

In one or more embodiments, CS 1400 performs one or more of thefollowing functions in one or more embodiments of a PG notificationsystem. It should be noted that the following functions might bechanged, rearranged, modified, added to, deleted, or otherwise adjustedwithin the scope of the embodiments.

-   1. The CS is activated for operation with a content provider system    to receive content or services. As part of the activation process, a    client and PG are transmitted to the CS.-   2. One or more PG notification messages are received by the CS and    used to determine if one or more sections of the locally stored PG    need to be updated.-   3. In an embodiment, if the CS determines that one or more sections    of the locally stored PG need to be updated, the CS listens to a    broadcast from the distribution system to obtain the updated    sections of the PG that it needs to update its local copy.-   4. In other embodiments, the CS transmits one or more request    messages to the CP to obtain the updated sections of the PG it    needs.-   5. In response to the request, the CP transmits the updated sections    of the PG to the CS.-   6. The CS uses the received updated sections of the PG to update its    local copy of the PG.

In one or more embodiments, the content delivery system comprisesprogram instructions stored on a computer-readable media, which whenexecuted by a processor, such as processing logic 1402, provides thefunctions of the content delivery notification system as describedherein. For example, instructions may be loaded into CS 1400 from acomputer-readable media, such as a floppy disk, CDROM, memory card,FLASH memory device, RAM, ROM, or any other type of memory device orcomputer-readable media that interfaces to CS 1400 through the resourcesand interfaces 1404. In other embodiments, the instructions may bedownloaded into CS 1400 from a network resource that interfaces to CS1400 through transceiver logic 1406. The instructions, when executed byprocessing logic 1402, provide one or more embodiments of a contentdelivery system as described herein.

It should be noted that CS 1400 represents just one implementation andthat other implementations are possible within the scope of theembodiments.

With reference to FIG. 15, illustrated is a system 1500 that monitorsand/or controls a remote media device that obtains broadcast and/ormulticast transmission(s). It is to be appreciated that system 1500 isrepresented as including functional blocks, which can be functionalblocks that represent functions implemented by a processor, software, orcombination thereof (e.g., firmware). System 1500 can be implemented ina wireless device and can include means for receiving collectedinformation associated with a broadcast transmission 1502. For example,the collected information may be obtained from remote media device(s).Further, system 1500 may comprise means for monitoring performance of atleast one of a media device and a network 1504. Pursuant to anillustration, the collected information may be evaluated to enable suchmonitoring. Moreover, system 1500 may include means for altering asubsequent transmission based upon the monitored performance 1506.

For a software implementation, the techniques described herein may beimplemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) thatperform the functions described herein. The software codes may be storedin memory units and executed by processors. The memory unit may beimplemented within the processor or external to the processor, in whichcase it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via variousmeans as is known in the art.

What has been described above includes examples of one or moreembodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing the aforementioned embodiments, but one of ordinary skill inthe art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations ofvarious embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the described embodimentsare intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications andvariations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in eitherthe detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to beinclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising”is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

1. A method that facilitates remotely monitoring a broadcast device, comprising: receiving collected information associated with a broadcast transmission from an operational media device; monitoring performance of at least one of the media device and a network based upon the collected information; and altering a subsequent broadcast transmission based upon the monitored performance.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the collected information comprises at least one of service information, system information, network information, and device performance information.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the collected information comprises device diagnostic information.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the collected information comprises call processing information.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the collected information comprises device position information.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcast transmission is associated with at least one of a limited reverse link and no reverse link.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcast transmission is in accordance with Forward Link Only (FLO) technology.
 8. The method of claim 1, receiving collected information via a communication path differing from a path associated with the broadcast transmission.
 9. The method of claim 8, receiving collected information via a wireless area network.
 10. The method of claim 8, receiving collected information via a 1× reverse link.
 11. The method of claim 8, receiving collected information via a wired broadband link.
 12. The method of claim 8, receiving collected information via a wireless connection in accordance with at least one of a 2G protocol, a 3G protocol, and a 4G protocol.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving collected information from a plurality of operational media devices; and comparing the collected information corresponding to each of the plurality of operational media devices to identify a location with diminished quality of service.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving information from disparate nodes in addition to the operational media device; and correlating the information from the disparate nodes and the collected information from the operational media device to identify a fault.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting control information to the operational media device to modify an operating parameter.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the operating parameter is associated with at least one of a channel, a location, information to collect, and information to backhaul.
 17. The method of claim 1, monitoring performance further comprises playing back collected information.
 18. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising: a memory that retains data related to a broadcast transmission and control information from a remote source; and a processor that enables operation pursuant to the control information for collecting the data related to the broadcast transmission, aggregates the data, and transmits feedback pertaining to the data.
 19. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor modifies at least one of a type of data to aggregate, a type of data to transmit, a location, an on/off state, a source from which to obtain the broadcast transmission, and a channel based upon the control information.
 20. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor aggregates and transmits at least one of coverage information, network information, and service information.
 21. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor aggregates and transmits at least one of audio, video and IP datacast data.
 22. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor modifies operation based upon updated control information obtained from the remote source.
 23. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor transmits the feedback by way of a second communication path differing from a first communication path associated with the broadcast transmission.
 24. A wireless communications apparatus for monitoring a remote device, comprising: means for receiving collected information associated with a broadcast transmission; means for monitoring performance of at least one of a media device and a network based on the collected information; and means for altering a subsequent transmission based upon the monitored performance.
 25. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 24, further comprising means for controlling the media device from a remote location.
 26. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 24, further comprising means for monitoring at least one of service information, system information, network information, and device performance information.
 27. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 24, further comprising means for obtaining feedback in a Forward Link Only (FLO) system.
 28. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 24, further comprising means for receiving collected information via a communication path differing from a path associated with the broadcast transmission.
 29. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 24, further comprising means for identifying geographic locations associated with diminished quality of service.
 30. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 24, further comprising means for locating a fault associated with the broadcast transmission based upon the monitored performance.
 31. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-executable instructions for: controlling operation of a media device that obtains a broadcast transmission; collecting data associated with the broadcast transmission from a plurality of nodes including the media device; and transmitting the collected data via a backhaul for remote monitoring.
 32. The machine-readable medium of claim 31, the machine-executable instructions further comprise transmitting control information obtained from a remote source to the media device.
 33. The machine-readable medium of claim 31, the machine-executable instructions further comprise collecting at least one of service data, system information, and physical layer performance data.
 34. The machine-readable medium of claim 31, the machine-executable instructions further comprise communicating via at least one of a 1× reverse link and a dedicated wired broadband link.
 35. The machine-readable medium of claim 31, wherein the plurality of nodes include at least one of a disparate media device, an exciter, a terminal service, and an integrated rate decoder (IRD).
 36. A processor that executes the following instructions: monitoring performance of at least one of a media device and a network based upon collected information associated with a broadcast transmission obtained from the media device; and altering a subsequent broadcast transmission based upon the monitored performance.
 37. The processor of claim 36, wherein the broadcast transmission is a Forward Link Only (FLO) transmission. 